John Vines Wright

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John Vines Wright (June 28, 1828 – June 11, 1908) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 7th congressional district of Tennessee. He was born in Purdy, Tennessee in McNairy County. He completed preparatory studies and attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he pursued courses in medicine and law. After graduating from the law department, he was admitted to the bar, and he commenced practice in Purdy, Tennessee.

He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth, the Thirty-fifth, and the Thirty-sixth Congresses. He served from March 4, 1855 to March 3, 1861. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army as colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Infantry in 1861. He was also elected to both the First and the Second Confederate Congresses.

Wright served as a judge of the circuit court of Tennessee, and then as a chancellor and judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court. He practiced law in Nashville in 1885 and 1886. He was an unsuccessful candidate as an Anti-Repudiation Democrat for governor of Tennessee in 1880. He was chairman of the Northwest Indian Commission in 1886 and a member of the commission to treat with the Great Sioux Nation in Dakota. He was appointed to the law division of the General Land Office in 1887 and served until his death in Washington, D.C.. He was interred in Rock Creek Cemetery.

This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.